Governing laws

Both domestic (of the investing and recipient economies) and international laws govern FDI. Domestic investment codes typically include provisions to attract FDI and safeguard direct investors, such as promises of national treatment, most-favored-nation treatment, tax incentives, security measures, and/or dispute resolution fora. In the event of an investor-State dispute, investors generally must exhaust local remedies before turning to other nations’ or international dispute resolution fora, such as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, an international arbitration institution.